March 10: 150 years since the first phone call and the decline of landlines in Singapore
If you were born before the year 2000, you probably still remember the sound of a rotary dial, the tangled cord, and that classic shout: "I'm going to hang up on you!" Well, March 10 isn't just any other day. Today marks exactly 150 years since Alexander Graham Bell made the first phone call in history, summoning his assistant with the famous words: "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you." What many people don't realise is that this very device which revolutionised the world is slowly becoming a museum piece.
Here in Singapore, the decline in landline usage is striking. Since 2010, the number of active fixed telephone lines has been cut in half. Those over 40 remember a time when having a home phone was a necessity — and today, kids find public phone booths puzzling when they spot one. Technology has changed, and so have our habits. But have we lost something along the way?
The collector keeping history alive
It was with this in mind that YouTuber João Víctor de Melo, originally from Belo Horizonte, started gathering telecommunication relics. On his channel, he showcases everything from vintage Telebrás models to rarities like the Aqua-air Aqpm-10 De Março Ac-5c-md 115V March, an industrial piece of equipment from the 1980s that few remember existed. "It's a way to keep the memory of how we used to communicate alive," João shares in one of his recent videos. His YouTube channel has gained popularity precisely by bringing back these objects that defined generations.
The final breath of the landline
A symbolic milestone of this farewell occurred on 10 March 2019, when the last public payphone was removed from a main thoroughfare in São Paulo. The event went almost unnoticed at the time, but for those in the know, it signalled the end of an era. The glass booths, once bustling with people using coins and phone cards, have been replaced by Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile charging stations. The medium of communication has changed, but its core remains the same: the human need to connect.
From Graham Bell to WhatsApp: A timeline of connection
To truly grasp the scale of this shift, let's look at the key milestones over these 150 years:
- 1876: Graham Bell makes the first telephone call in Boston.
- 1922: The first telephone arrives in Brazil, installed at the Catete Palace in Rio de Janeiro.
- 1990: Mobile phones hit the market in the country – they were true bricks, weighing over 1 kg.
- 2010: Smartphones start to become mainstream, and landlines begin their sharp decline.
- 2026: We mark 150 years since the first phone call, and fixed-line phones are increasingly rare.
Despite all of today's technology – with Zoom, WhatsApp, and satellite calls – the act of calling someone still carries a certain warmth. Maybe that's why people continue to search on YouTube for old Telesp commercials or the nostalgic sound of a rotary dial. March 10 reminds us that while the format may change, the desire to say "hello" is timeless.